Given to answer a friend's question

Which commandments allow for changes as how we live them now that we are in the year 2009?

The answer is “none.” But the answer is also “all.”

Where the Creator gave us commandments to last for all time, He also gave us a world that changes. In this, the commandments are meant to be flexible. When Luther recognized it to be so, he wrote out simple explanations to the commandments, which he called the Small Catechism. His work makes it a little easier to translate God’s desires into specific action.

So now, many years later, with issues confronting us that could not even have been imagined (by humans) when the commandments were newly carved, we may apply the ancient word of God to the modern world.

Here are some principles for reading the commandments, following Luther and the scripture itself:

1. Be kind and forgiving of your neighbor; assume the best. The purpose of the commandments is not to give us ways to accuse, blame or condemn others, even though it’s fun and makes us feel good about ourselves. (Matthew 7:1-5)

2. In contrast, be as strict as possible with yourself. When a question arises in your heart about whether a commandment forbids you doing something, assume it does. Likewise, the question, “Do I really have to . . . ?” should get a yes, by default. Exceptions to this principle are few. (Matthew 18:21-22)

3. Remember that the law does not justify. Too many of us think that God gave the commandments so that we could make ourselves righteous by obeying them. Then we fall into the trap of reading the Bible like an instruction book on how to live, and not a proclamation of God’s love. Did they really think that, if they understood the commandments clearly, they could keep themselves from sinning? (Luke 17:10)

4. We are saved by grace. Sin is less about the things we do than about our radical disconnect (uprootedness) from God, which we chose: rather than let God be God, and let Him do the commandment writing and the justifying, we humans would prefer to be our own gods. (Genesis 3:5) We broke it, and can’t fix it. Only grace can rectify this situation.

5. Finally, forgiveness is not permission, still less sanction. (John 8:11)

Devotions, given in front of a Bishop

God’s grace and peace are yours through Jesus Christ
Isaiah 43
surely the times call for a new thing to be done; society changing, churches changing - even new churches are emerging
God does not disappoint, but does the new thing that is needed
I said needed, not expected, nor perhaps what we have desired
new thing is not what we may wish to claim; and such claims proliferate. Such that the Holy Spirit is invoked and claimed to be the driving force behind cultural changes, VBS materials the color of candles
I find it to be a greedy arrogance, the claim that God’s new thing has only been done among Lutherans of North America; and not even all of those
Yet God does not lie. He does the new thing; but the newness of the thing is not a chronologically new thing. It is an ontologically new thing
Behold he is doing a new thing. Do you not perceive it? It is the same new thing he has always done
The new thing is forever new, always different, and so is always a surprise to the world.
The world would want the new thing to be a new toy; a new tolerance or intolerance; a new victory or new defeat a new treasure or power
Instead God surprises the world with this new thing: God is saving his people. And in that he is making all things new, as he has from the beginning. It is called redemption, the making new of something that had been corrupted, corroded, and no longer as it had been created. But behold, he does a new thing; he makes the thing new.
Here is a new thing. The Holy Spirit has called me through the Gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, and sanctified and kept me in true faith.
In the same way he does the same new thing in church, calls gathers enlightens sanctifies the WHOLE Christian church on earth, and keeps it UNITED with Jesus Christ in the one true faith
There can be no other new Christian. As there can be no new church. Those are absurdities. The only new Christian, the only new church, is the one that is new because God made it new in the gospel of Jesus Christ
The only new church is the one that is, the one that has always been the steward of his gospel, and steward of so many more gifts, from bread and wine to time and talent, to well-drilling equipment and schools for girls
The only new church is the one that is, the one that has always been the evangelist, proclaiming the pure gospel in this world
And the world is still surprised. God keeps doing the same old new thing, to the shock, wonder, horror, amazement and joy of this world
Behold, he is doing a new thing. Do you not perceive it?

Emergency Exit Only

Usually you see them at the door, big muscles and dark shades, deciding who can come in to the party and who can't. They must be very good at this, because you hardly ever see them change their minds later on. Only once have I seen a bouncer actually bounce.

We were in a sports bar in Bloomington, Indiana, where we had gone to see the Indiana-Kentucky game (not only was it an away game, but we were too broke to buy tickets or travel). Indiana won, so we all had happy faces as we turned to go home. This wasn't enough for one fan, however. In a beer-strengthened fit of celebration, he grabbed one of the hefty bar tables and flipped it on its side. Just like that, a bouncer came up behind him, took him by belt and collar, and extruded him out the nearest door. This was an emergency exit, so there was no handle on the other side to let the guy back in. I'm sure the expulsion took less than a second, total. When a bouncer gets a real chance to bounce, it's a sight to behold.

Lutherans are the reason that heaven has bouncers. The Baptists will never have a little too much to drink and the Episcopalians will never use their shrimp forks to pick up a piece of cheese that fell on the floor. But you gotta worry about those Lutherans.

The only way a Lutheran will get into this party is on a pass. What's more, the honest Lutherans know they're getting in on a pass. Sola Gratia.

Jesus says, "Aw, Dad; can't they come to the party? They're my friends. I promise they won't break anything."

And so Our Father decided to let even the Lutherans into heaven. But then He hired bouncers.

Coming Down

As Moses came down from the mountaintop, he heard the people of Israel singing. This was good. The tune, St. Catherine, was one he liked, though he still found it difficult to tap toe while carrying two large stone tablets.

(In a weird bit of coincidence, the monastery founded on that spot several centuries later is named St. Catherine's.)

The trouble started when he rounded the corner and noticed not a well ordered worship space with congregants standing in neat pew-like rows, but dancing (and not the liturgical dance kind either) around an enormous golden calf.

He soon regretted his decision to listen to the words of their hymn:

Cow of our fathers (Holy Cow!)
We will be true to you - for now.

Incurvatus

This pair of sins, Pride and False Humility, have this in common: that both are turned in on the self, and hence make a god out of the self.

Pride looks at the gifts of God found within and observes, "My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this." (Deuteronomy 8:17)

False Humility looks at the same and observes, "'I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground.'" (Matthew 25:25)

The only option for the faithful is to turn outward. True Humility takes what God has given and moves it outside of the self.

Even in this

"Do not squander your afflictions."
--Fred Jordan

"Thank God for trials."
--Dan Deardoff

I'm pretty sure neither of these people I quoted were original to these ideas, but they are my source, anyway. So I thank God for them.

The Tree of Knowing Better

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the LORD God had made. Not that it needed to be.

So that when the woman saw that the fruit looked good and smelled delicious; and that it was trans-fat and cholesterol free; and she was convinced that by eating of it she would not violate The Commandment, that is, "As Long As You Are Not Hurting Anyone Else;" and when she perceived that God, when He said no, was messing with her freedom and imposing His idea of morality on her when He couldn't possibly know what it was like to be her; and anyway God always loves us the way we are (He created us with curiosity and desire and never makes mistakes) and will always forgive us no matter what; when she saw that she had to do what she felt was best for her and her family; and what was the big deal anyway -

in short, when she could no longer think of any reason not to -

she took of the fruit and ate.

She also gave some to her husband, who apparently needed even less convincing than she did. In the space of half a verse, he ate too.

And so they became as God. If you believe the advertising.